When Paul Webb started making Drift Code, the second album by Rustin Man, he had a newborn daughter. She's now seventeen and the record is finally out. It would be a shame or worse if the result of such extended labour were not worth hearing. Fortunately it very much is. Certainly one of the most eccentric and doggedly leftfield records anybody is likely to release in 2019 but one that still fits within recognisable categories and gives much to the listener in return for the attention it demands.
Webb originally came to public notice during the Eighties as bassist of English band Talk Talk, a group who first came out with a clutch of pretty conventional New Romantic singles but then took flight with two of the most adventurous albums in the whole of Pop history, Whether you personally take to Spirit of Eden or Laughing Stock, the two landmark albums that utterly recast their narrative is a matter of personal taste. Despite their moods of intense and sustained atmospheric beauty which won over countless critics and fans, (who have stayed with the records ever since), they certainly left themselves open to the charge of preciousness. Probably if you find yourself in the second camp of thought, you may struggle with Drift Code.
I certainly approached the record, produced over almost two decades in Webb's barn, with a certain amount of reserve. I'm always slightly wary about records that project themselves as art, but in this case a couple of plays have worn down my defences. Drift Code is an album that slots nicely next to records like Robert Wyatt's Rock Bottom, Bowie's Low, Scott Walker's Tilt and Kate Bush's Aerial on record shelves and remarkably is not shamed by such lofty comparisons, even though I wouldn't necessarily say that it's as good a record as any of these four.
What I would say about Drift Code is that it's pretty good company with no little eccentric pop charm to bring to the table. Listen to fourth track, Our Tomorrows for example. It's got one hell of a tune, albeit a wonky, unorthodox one which points to another possible reference point. Berthold Brecht and Kurt Weil laid down some of the most significant lyrical and melodic flagstones for Rock music to eventually take a more adventurous route through the forest and Webb seems to have taken notes, like Morrison, Bowie, Walker and Iggy Pop before him.
Webb and Rustin Man have chosen a potentially rocky artistic road, fraught with obvious pitfalls. I'm pleased to report that for me personally they succeed for the most part and their sheer ambition is certainly to be applauded. Drift Code seems to me a record that will reward repeated listening greatly. Best listened to in its entirety when you have a good hour on your hands and can give it your full, undivided attention.
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